No.  105. 


Tiuitmni’s  l(ninn  (Diooinnnrn  Sorirli). 


A FIRST  STEP. 

THIS  is  a period  when  in  our  land,  pioneers  and  discoverers 
are  being  honored.  Many  brave  sailors,  and  gallant 
ships,  have  followed  Columbus  across  the  sea,  but  we 
honor  him  as  the  first  to  point  the  wray  to  a new  world,  and  to 
take  possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Thus  it  is  fitting  to 
recall  the  past  of  our  Union  Society,  and  do  honor  to  those  brave 
pioneers  in  Woman’s  Missions,  who  in  the  face  of  indifference 
and  incredulity,  first  found  a way  into  this  new  world  of  Mis- 
sionary achievement. 

The  year  1834  forms  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  heathen 
women,  for  then  Rev.  David  Abeel,  returning  from  his  mission 
in  China,  via  England,  first  presented  in  London,  their  claims  on 
the  sympathies  and  labors  of  Christian  women,  resulting  in  the 
organization  of  an  association  called  The  Society  for  Promoting 


2 


Female  Education  in  the  East.  The  history  of  this  Society  forms 
the  most  enduring  monument,  of  the  godly  advocate  for  the  ele- 
vation of  heathen  women. 

The  same  year,  in  New  York,  he  pleaded  the  woes  of 

this  debased  and  enslaved  sex,  for  which  no  adequate  remedy 

had  yet  been  suggested.  But  foreign  missions  were  in  their 

infancy  in  our  land,  and  the  leaders  of  Missionary  Boards 

deemed  an  independent  movement  premature.  This  germ  of  a 
woman's  mission  to  woman  was,  however,  not  forgotten  by  Mrs.  T. 
C.  Doremus,  whose  consecrated  heart  had  been  fired  to  enthusi- 
asm by  her  personal  friendship  with  Dr.  Abeel. 

Twenty-six  years  later,  as  a manager  in  the  Female  Bible 
Society  of  New  York,  she  listened  to  the  stirring  words  of  Mrs. 
Francis  B.  Mason,  a missionary  from  Burmah,  appealing  to  that 
organization  for  the  employment  of  Christian  Bible  Readers  in 
heathen  lands.  The  circumscribed  work  of  that  association, 
rendered  any  official  co-operation  in  this  direction  impossible, 
but  Mrs.  Doremus  then  determined  that  nothing  should  hinder 
a response  to  this  second  appeal.  An  independent  undenom- 
inational society  to  send  out  single  women  to  the  East,  con- 
ducted by  unsalaried  officers,  was  organized  in  the  Fall  of  i860, 
under  the  title  of  the  Woman’s  Union  Missionary  Society  of 
America  for  Heathen  Lands.  Nine  ladies  in  Boston  had 
previously  formed  a society  for  the  same  purpose,  became  an 
auxiliary,  and  zealous  gifted  women  in  Brooklyn  worked  side 
by  side  with  those  in  New  York,  in  the  new  organization  incor- 


3 


porated  February,  1861.  Mrs.  Doremus  was  chosen  its  first 
President,  continuing  her  arduous  labors  for  eighteen  years. 
No  one  could  have  been  better  fitted  as  a leader  in  this  delicate 
and  difficult  enterprise ; for  her  supreme  faith  and  indomitable 
courage,  her  enthusiasm  for  missions,  dating  from  childhood, 
her  wide  experience  combined  with  tireless  energy  and  purpose, 
and  her  extensive  acquaintance  and  influence;  all  her  varied 
resources  were  devoted  to  the  interests  of  this  frail  little  bark, 
launched  on  tempestuous  seas  of  opposition  and  unbelief. 

Among  many  original  methods  of  arousing  interest,  children 
were  organized  into  Mission  Bands  at  an  early  day,  the  first 
one,  still  in  existence,  bearing  the  suggestive  name  of  Pioneer. 

The  Philadelphia  Branch,  formed  May,  1861,  became  the 
first  advocate  and  champion  of  women  physicians,  opening  a 
new  field  for  medical  missions,  now  recognized  as  a most  im- 
portant factor,  in  reaching  heathen  women,  doomed  by  the 
tyranny  of  ages  to  neglect  and  misery. 

The  zenana  work  for  the  secluded  women  of  India,  which 
had  never  been  brought  before  the  Christian  public  of  America, 
was  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  new  organization. 

Such  in  brief  was  the  origin  of  this  Union  Society , whose 
later  history  and  present  standing  are  known.  The  wisdom  and 
far-reaching  faith  of  its  founders  have  been  proved,  not  alone 
by  its  results  in  heathen  lands,  but  also  by  its  effects  in  America. 
Some  of  its  distinctive  features  have  been  adopted  by  all  de- 
nominational Missionary  Boards  and  local  societies  of  women 


4 


for  the  advancement  of  the  questions  of  the  day,  have  followed 
in  the  train  of  this  first  organized  effort  of  women  to  conduct 
labors  of  magnitude  and  importance. 

In  view  of  the  present  efforts  to  further  a more  united 
Church  of  Christ,  is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  the  Woman’s  Union 
Missionary  Society , whose  sole  aim  is  to  spread  the  name  of  Jesus, 
may  win  to  its  support  thousands  of  consecrated  women,  who 
owe  all  in  this  life  and  the  next,  to  the  Gospel  which  alone  has 
elevated  and  honored  women  ? 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  WOMAN’S  UNION  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY, 

Mrs.  HENRY  JOHNSON,  President. 

Miss  S.  D.  DOREMUS,  Corresponding  Secretary , 

Miss  ELIZABETH  STONE,  Assistant  Treasurer. 

The  Missionary  Link,  issued  monthly,  50  cents  a year, 
the  only  organ  of  the  Society;  may  be  obtained  at 

Mission  Room,  67  Bible  House,  New  York  City. 


